Modular wooden decking for patios, balconies or terraces

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to modular wooden decking for patios, balconies or terraces. According to the invention, the wooden decking comprises a framework made up of a plurality of rectangular frames ( 1 ) which are arranged alongside one another and whose sides have lengths which are a multiple of the length of the shortest side (l), and boards ( 5, 9 ) laid on top of the frames and secured to them, said boards having a length which is a multiple of the length (l) of the shortest side of the frame.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to modular wooden decking for patios,balconies or terraces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has become increasingly common for some types of work, traditionallydone by craftsmen, to be done now by do-it-yourself enthusiasts. Onetype of work often done by owners of houses, summer holiday cottages andthe like is the construction of wooden decking for patios, terraces,balconies and the like. At the places where the construction elementsfor wooden decking are sold, for example at DIY stores, sawmills or thelike, the boards and joists forming the main components of woodendecking are sold in lengths which make it difficult to transport theelements needed for the wooden decking in a car or on the roof rack of acar. It is often necessary to shorten some of the building elements inorder to be able to take them away. Another problem is that it may bedifficult to calculate how many joists and boards need to be purchasedto be able to construct a certain size of wooden decking, as it isnecessary to take into account that a certain amount of material may bewasted. This difficulty is accentuated if the joists and boardsavailable at the point of sale do not have the same length, which theyoften do not have. The result is that the purchaser often buys moreconstruction elements than are actually needed, so as to avoid having tobuy further construction elements at a later time. This in turn leads tomore material being wasted and then having to be dealt with.

Even work as simple as constructing wooden decking with the constructionelements presently available at DIY stores requires a certain level ofcraftsmanship. The joists have to be sliced, and the boards have to besawn and secured to the joists. For the wooden decking to beesthetically pleasing, the joins between the joists have to be neat, andthe saw cuts made in the boards have to be at right angles bothtransversely and in depth. This can be a difficult task for the averagedo-it-yourself enthusiast, and it means that the end result may bewooden decking that is functionally satisfactory but estheticallyunattractive.

There is therefore a need to permit wooden decking construction in whichthe building components are easy to transport by car, and the woodendecking can be easily constructed without requiring skilledcraftsmanship.

The objects of the present invention are to satisfy this requirement andat the same time to provide a construction which eliminates waste or atleast to a large extent reduces waste.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, these objects are achieved by means ofmodular wooden decking for patios, balconies or terraces, characterizedby a framework made up of a plurality of identical rectangular frameswhich are arranged alongside one another and whose sides have lengthswhich are a multiple of the length of the shortest side, and boards laidon top of the frames and secured to them, said boards having a lengthwhich is a multiple of the length of the shortest side of the frame.Wooden decking of this type is very easy to assemble and involves simplylaying the frames alongside one another across the surface that thewooden decking is to cover, and then securing the boards to the frames.The only tool needed for joining the boards and the frames together is ascrewdriver or a hammer, depending on the type of securing element used.There is normally no need for any sawing of joists or boards.

In a preferred embodiment, the boards have the same width and aresecured to the frames with a spacing a between adjacent boards, and amultiple of the sum of the width of a board and the spacing a betweenadjacent boards is equal to the length of the longest side of theframes. The frames can advantageously be square and made up of fouridentical joists which have a width greater than the spacing a betweenthe boards.

In a preferred variant, each frame has a central joist arranged midwaybetween the two shortest sides of the frame, and the boards are screwedsecurely to the frames, with screw holes being pre-drilled in the boardsin order to make assembly easier.

The invention also relates to a package for a unit forming part of themodular wooden decking described above, characterized in that thepackage contains all the components included in a modular unit offrame(s), central joist(s), boards, angle irons and screws.

In one variant, the invention also relates to a package for a unitforming part of the modular wooden decking described above,characterized in that it comprises angle irons and screws for one ormore modules. Such a package can be included inside a package for one ormore module units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will now be described with reference to the attachedfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a frame according to apreferred embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the frame from FIG. 1, withboards fitted onto it,

FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of the frame from FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of how two frames according to FIG. 1are joined together,

FIG. 5 shows the frames from FIG. 4 joined together and with boardsfitted onto them, and

FIGS. 6-8 show schematic perspective views of different combinations offrames and boards.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 3 show a square frame 1 made up of four identical woodenjoists 2 whose end areas are secured to one another in a suitablemanner, for example with the aid of angle irons 3 screwed into the endsof the joists. The frame 1 constitutes a modular unit of the woodendecking according to the invention and is advantageously of such a sizethat it can be carried in the luggage compartment of a car or on a roofrack of a car. In the embodiment shown, the sides of the frame have alength l of ca. 1200 mm, and a central joist 4 is arranged midwaybetween two opposite sides of the frame 1 so that the boards to befitted onto the frame will be mounted with a suitable central spacingbetween the supports. The central joist 4 is secured to the frame in asuitable manner, for example with the aid of angle irons 3, as in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

The frame configured as a modular unit can of course have a differentlength than the one mentioned above; for example, it can be rectangular,with long sides having a length which is a multiple of the length of theshort sides, e.g. twice as long as the short sides. For example, theshort sides can have a length of ca. 600 mm. With such a configuration,no central joist is needed to obtain a suitable central spacing betweenthe supports for the fitted boards. However, the short sides should notbe shorter than 500-600 mm, so as to avoid an unnecessarily large numberof joists being included in the finished wooden decking. It is alsopossible to imagine a rectangular frame with short sides having a lengthof ca. 1200 mm and long sides which are twice as long. If the long sidesare longer than ca. 2400 mm, it may be difficult to transport the framesin a car, and for this reason the length of the long sides is preferablyat most ca. 2400 mm.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the frame from FIG. 1, provided withboards 5 laid on top of it. In FIG. 3, broken lines indicate theboundaries 6, 7 of the different boards. As can best be seen from FIG.3, the boards 5 are separated from one another by a spacing a which, forexample, can be between 6 and 10 mm. The length of the boards 5 in FIG.2 is equal to the length l of the sides of the square frame 1, and amultiple of the sum of the width of each board 5 and the abovementionedspacing a is equal to the length l of a frame side. Such a configurationensures that the boards 5 of units 8 composed of frame and fitted boardsaccording to FIG. 2 and adjacent to one another in the transversedirection of the boards can be arranged with a spacing a between them.The thickness of the joists 2 is preferably greater than the spacing a.In the longitudinal direction of the boards, the board ends lie againstone another in longitudinally adjacent units according to FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows a second unit 10 made up of two frames according to FIG. 1and with fitted boards 9. This unit differs from the embodiment shown inFIG. 2 in that the boards 9 are twice as long as the boards 5.Otherwise, the embodiment is the same as the one described above. As isindicated in FIG. 4, the unit 10 is constructed from two frames 1 whichare brought together as indicated by arrows in FIG. 4 and are thenpreferably secured to one another, for example by being screwedtogether. The boards 9 are then fitted on top and secured to the joists2 and central joists 4 lying in the transverse direction of the boards.

FIG. 6 shows two units 10 according to FIG. 5 joined together to form asquare unit, and FIG. 7 shows four units 8 joined together to form asquare unit with the same size as the unit in FIG. 6. It will be seenfrom FIGS. 6 and 7 that wooden decking of different patterns can beconstructed depending on which module length of the boards is used.

FIG. 8 shows a unit made up of five frames, where boards 5 of modulelength l have been used for the frame 1 extending out to the right inFIG. 8 from the square made up of four frames 1, and boards 9 of twicethe module length have been used for the frames in the square made up offour frames.

For the system according to the invention to have the necessaryflexibility, boards 5, 9 of different length should therefore beincluded in the system, and the lengths of the boards will constitute amultiple of the module length l.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, identical frames have been used.However, this is not necessary for wooden decking according to theinvention, and it will be appreciated that the boards 9 can cooperatewith a frame of twice the module length.

By means of the above-described system of frames and boards, woodendecking can be constructed by first laying the frames out so that theycompletely or partially cover the surface area to be provided withwooden decking. The frames are then secured to one another, for exampleby means of screws, after which the boards are laid on top of therespective frame or pair of frames depending on whether the boards havethe length l or 2l. The boards are then secured to the frames,preferably by screwing. It is therefore very easy for a do-it-yourselfenthusiast to construct wooden decking by means of the above-describedsystem of frames and boards.

It is not entirely necessary to connect the frames to one another, butsuch connection is preferred from the point of view of stability. Theframes included in a unit 10 according to FIG. 5, however, do not needto be connected directly to one another, and instead they can beindirectly connected to one another via the boards 9. It is alsopossible to surround the whole of the wooden decking with side pieceswhich are secured round the edge of the wooden decking and avoidhorizontal shifting of the units of frames and boards included in thewooden decking. These side pieces preferably have a width or heightwhich at least corresponds to the sum of the frame height, i.e. thewidth of joists included in the frame, and the thickness of the boards.

The only tool needed for constructing wooden decking by means of thedescribed system of frames and boards is a screwdriver if screws areused as securing elements, or a hammer if nails are used as securingelements. To make it easier to secure the boards, they can be providedwith pre-drilled holes at the level of the joists and central joists.The fact that all the boards, central joists and joists have been cut bymachine at the time of purchase means that even the averagedo-it-yourself enthusiast will achieve a satisfactory result onassembling the described wooden decking. Machine cutting means thatexact lengths are obtained, something which is difficult to achieve whencutting by hand.

So that the frames take up less room and are easier to transport, theycan be supplied in a disassembled state and then put together on site bythe do-it-yourself enthusiast or someone else. To facilitate thepurchase of the components and the calculation of the amount of timberneeded, it may be advantageous for all the components included in a unit8, 10 of frame(s) 1, central joist(s) 4, boards 5 or 9, angle irons 3and screws to be supplied in individual packages.

It is moreover advantageous if the fittings, i.e. angle irons or thelike and screws or nails, for one or more modules are packed in a bag orthe like which can be included in a package for one or more modulesaccording to the above or can be supplied separately.

The described embodiments can of course be modified within the scope ofthe invention. The modules forming part of the wooden decking can haveother dimensions than those indicated, and the spacing between theboards can be different than stated. The boards can be profiled on oneside or on both sides. Moreover, elements other than angle irons can beused for connecting the joist ends to one another, for example woodencorner blocks to which the joist ends are secured, or just screws ornails. The invention is therefore limited only by the content of theattached patent claims.

1. A modular wooden decking for patios, balconies or terraces,characterized by a framework made up of a plurality of rectangularframes (1) which are arranged alongside one another and whose sides havelengths which are a multiple of the length of the shortest side (l), andboards (5, 9) laid on top of the frames and secured to them, said boardshaving a length which is a multiple of the length (l) of the shortestside of the frame.
 2. The modular wooden decking as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the boards (5, 9) have the same width (b) and aresecured to the frames (1) with a spacing a between adjacent boards, andin that a multiple of the sum of the width (b) of a board and thespacing a between adjacent boards is equal to the length of the longestside of the frames.
 3. The modular wooden decking as claimed in claim,characterized in that the frames (1) are square.
 4. The modular woodendecking as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the frames (1) aremade up of four identical joists (2) which have a thickness greater thanthe spacing a between the boards.
 5. The modular wooden decking asclaimed in claim 1, characterized in that each frame (1) has a centraljoist (4) arranged midway between the two shortest sides of the frame.6. The modular wooden decking as claimed in claim 1, characterized inthat the boards (5, 9) are screwed securely to the frames (1), and inthat screw holes are pre-drilled in the boards.
 7. A package for a unitforming part of the modular wooden decking as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the package contains all the components includedin a modular unit (8, 10) of frame(s) (1), central joist(s) (4), boards(5, 9), angle irons (3) and screws.
 8. The package for a unit formingpart of the modular wooden decking as claimed in claim 1, characterizedin that it comprises angle irons (3) and screws for one or more modules.9. The modular wooden decking as claimed in claim 2, characterized inthat the frames (1) are square.